UCSD Health leader announces resignation

Tom Jackiewicz will leave UCSD Health System on Dec. 1 after serving as its chief executive for two years, presiding over major expansion plans for the university’s medical facilities and the opening of a $227 million cardiovascular center last summer.

Jackiewicz, 53, is headed for the University of Southern California, where he will start on Jan. 1 as senior vice president and chief executive for USC Health.

He came to UCSD Health in 2001 as its chief financial officer before being promoted to CEO in 2009, overseeing UCSD’s two hospitals, UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest and Thornton Hospital in La Jolla; patient care at UCSD Moores Cancer Center and Shiley Eye Center; and the new Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center.

David Brenner, UCSD’s Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, said a 15-member committee of administrators, faculty and community members will conduct a nationwide search among academic medical centers for a replacement.

The new CEO will take over a health system with 5,500 employees, about 700 affiliated doctors and annual operating revenues of $840 million. Brenner said UCSD is entering an exciting era with reorganization plans that include opening a new hospital in 2016.

“This is a very important position,” Brenner said. “We’re going to need someone who can fulfill all our usual obligations in clinical care ... and who has a strategic vision of where we want to go in the next 10 years.”

Dr. Thomas McAfee, dean for clinical affairs at UCSD Health, will serve as interim CEO during the search, Brenner said. McAfee will start Monday to give a three-week overlap before Jackiewicz leaves.

Brenner said he will miss Jackiewicz’s vision, his friendship and his ability to bring people together who may have competing interests.

“The natural tendency is for people to defend their own turf,” Brenner said. “One of his strengths is that he’s very inclusive, able to connect disparate groups to reach compromises.”

The Jacobs Medical Center will focus on maternity and infant care, cancer treatment and advanced surgery. Those services will be moved from UCSD Medical Center, which will continue to operate a trauma center, emergency room, burn center and outpatient services. The university also intends to open the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute in 2015.

Not all changes have gone smoothly under his watch. The scheduled April opening of the Sulpizio cardiovascular center was delayed until late summer, as the state health department demanded fixes for safety violations in the Thornton and Hillcrest hospital emergency rooms.

In anticipation of the new center, UCSD resumed its heart transplant program a year ago, luring noted cardiac surgeon Dr. Jack Copeland from the University of Arizona. Copeland helped pioneer the use of artificial hearts in the 1980s.

Jackiewicz declined to say how his new salary will compare with the $600,000 he earns annually at UCSD. He said he’s moving to USC to make the kinds of systemwide changes already in motion at UCSD.